Rugby HTM

Today was D day - something we have been excited/worried about all week, the biggie - Crufts Semi Final! I went in thinking I didn't stand a chance and just wanted us to try our best. Cas was so barky when we went in the ring at lunch to practice so I clipped her lead on and took her out everytime. Our class was last and we were 4th in. Walked into the ring and Cas forgot what a bow was and lay down - great start I thought. But then we started and she worked like a dream, I couldn't feel her getting wound up to bark at all - she had 3 little barks, that's all! I do admit to messing up a couple of times as I moved onto the next move too quickly. However we came 7th and qualified for Crufts next Thursday!!!!!! Woooo!!! It does mean I am going to miss Rum's agility I think - boo hoo, but hey we're in the main ring!!!

Gundog Unaf Agility

Rum's first run was in Open Steeplechase, had a lovely smooth run until I was standing in the wrong place and had a bit of 'well where are we going next?' moment, but he ended up 6th so I was pleased with that. His first agility run was so lovely but he had a pole down - contacts were so fast and the weaves, the second run he missed his weave entry as I moved on too soon and he had the same pole down. In Combined 3-4 Jumping he had a messy clear so I tried to tighten him up on his second run which made it 10 times worse, so not sure why, however he ended up 2nd so was really chuffed with that.

Cassie's first run was Open Steeplechase in which she had two poles down (thought she might as it was very tight). Her first agility run she pinged her contacts so I put her back over them and her second run was lovely, just having a pole down (and me missing out a couple of jumps lol!). We won't mentioned the first Combined 5-7 Jumping as we did everything wrong, but the second round she went beautifully but I went the wrong way and did a pull through instead of a round!! She had a pole down anyway thankfully.

Agility Addicts Show

Rum’s first run was Novice Agility 1, stupid me thought I will keep my mouth shut while he is jumping before the weaves but then I forgot to open it again to tell him to weave – so we had 5R, then he had a pole down. I really drove his contacts and made him wait. In Novice Agility 2 I put him at the wrong angle at the first jump and he went jump 1 and he then cut across and took the wrong jump, real shame as he had a beautiful round otherwise. In the Jump N Gamble he was way ahead of me, told him right but he didn’t take the right closest to him and got E’d. Finally Novice Jumping 1 and it was a hard start, getting E’d virtually straight away. For Novice Jumping 2 I changed my handling and he was going so lovely, apparently his time was quicker than any of the others, however I didn’t call firmly enough and he got E’d one jump from the end!

Cassie’s first run was Senior Agility 1, off she went, pinged A-frame, Senior Agility 2 the same thing happened, I put her back both times but to be quite honest I am sure she wasn’t bothered at all! Jump N Gamble, had a lovely speedy clear, then we got the Super Gamble only to find out we had been E’d as the stupid handler crossed the gamble line – would have won it otherwise, grrrr!! Senior Jumping 1 was a tough course but I got her round it clear, was amazed, jumped for joy! So for Senior Jumping 2 I thought I would really push her round and tighten turns, we managed to knock a second off our original time and won it!

Ribble Agility Show

Rum just had two runs today, his first was Combined 1-4 Jumping in which he decided he was going to do what he wanted to do, followed by a pairs run when again he went off doing what he wanted to do so I called him back and firmly told him 'no' after which he finished off the run lovely - first time he has ever played me up in the ring!

Cas had 4 runs, her first was the Olympia Combined 6-7 Agility, after the first jump she got herself E's backjumping the long jump as I didn't set her up at enough of an angle, such a shame as she was stunning round the rest and got all her contacts! In Grade 6 Jumping she was really listening, another stunning run but she had 2 poles down. In pairs I can't quite remember what happened but we got E'd somewhere or other lol! Then Grade 6 Agility she missed her dogwalk so I put her back in and took her out.

So this week Cas worked really nicely and it was Rum who was on another planet! Just can't seem to work 2 dogs well at the same show - Dashin Dogs was a one off last September! On another note Lee had his first show with Scott who was amazing, have a look at his site for the video.

Wilmslow Agility Show

An if only day for Rum & I. Our first run was graded 4-5 jumping, to be honest I expected an E at number 3 as it was a corner of a box and there was a jump they had to miss to come round the corner and we have always been E'd on those before - this time I stayed at the start and collected him on my right instead of going with him, he did it lovely and tight and went lovely from there on, got a tricky weave entry but I called him over a jump and he dropped the pole! Sack the handler, would have been 3rd otherwise. Graded 4-5 agility and he again had a lovely round but pulled out of the last weave as I moved too soon, his dogwalk and A-frame were a little slow but he hasn't been training for weeks. Last class was combined 4-5 agility and his A-frame was gorgeous (went straight down and then I released), he just saw a jump as a trap I hadn't and I was too late calling him - big E - shame as he ran his dogwalk and the rest really fantastically.

Cas was on another planet again, I don't know what the matter is with her lately. Combined 6-7 Agility she missed her dogwalk so I walked out. Graded 6-7 agility she had a pole down so I made sure she got her dogwalk, she ran nicely but then missed her A-frame so I put her back on it. Last run was graded 6-7 jumping and she just totally ignored me and went off on one doing her own course!

PNM HTM Show

I had entered Rum into Starters Dressage with his Syncopated Clock routine, it was a small room, really packed and he was quite stressed but did some nice bits and ended up 5th. Then his first novice class with a new routine to 500 Miles, he worked the first half well but then switched off a bit so I got the tuggy out and trained the rest, with it being novice the length of the music has increased and I must admit he struggled with it, so need to work on that!!

I was really pleased with Cas, a new routine for Advanced Freestyle - Well Did You Evah - she had a couple of little barks and I had to amend a bit mid flow as I could feel her about to go into full bark! She came 5th which I was really pleased with.

Rugby Agility Show

Rum's first run was in the jumping, he had a fantastic round I was plesantly surprised we got round as far as we did without getting Eliminated! However three from the end I got in his way and he backjumped, so we were E'd. Then the agility he had the second pole down which was fair enough as it was ever so close to the dogwalk and if he had jumped it normally he would have landed on the dogwalk and hurt himself so I am glad he had the pole down. Otherwise again he worked lovely and his contacts were nice, just gave his stop command to early on the see-saw.

Cas, well she was on another planet today! She ran round the wall several times in the jumping even though she has seen one several times before and never had an issue, after that I kind of lost heart with the round. In the agility we were Eliminated at jump three as she insisted on carrying on instead of listening to me and turning. But I think I have lost heart in running Cas as I don't have anything to aim for, her contacts aren't great and there aren't any jumping qualifiers or anything similar for grade 6, they're all combined with grade 7 and she just doesn't have the speed to catch the 7s.

Newton Heath Agility Show

First grade 4 classes for Rum today. Our first run was in Graded 4-5 Jumping. I hadn't had chance to walk it and it looked a tricky course for him but he ran it really well, I was so pleased with him, we just had 5 faults for a dropped pole which was my fault as I commanded him while he was over it. I was glad he knocked the pole though as he saw his lead before the finish and we had a massive wide turn as he almost went to it! Next was Graded 4-5 Agility, I knew I couldn't get him past the start - it was a really tight pull through and he had landed miles past it, however I did get him through and was so shocked I didn't get him back over the jump lol and we were Eliminated. Gave me a chance to really push and reinforce his contacts and he was fab! We won't mention Time Fault & Out!!

First grade 6 classes for Cas today. Our first run was in Graded 6-7 Jumping, well what can I say? I don't think we did anything right and looked like we had never done agility before! Hee hee, I think I was handling her too much like Rum and we got Eliminated several times. Graded 6-7 Agility was next and I thought what a nice easy course it was but Cas had other ideas and ran round the A-frame instead of over it! Shame as she did her contacts lovely. Finished the day on a good note with Combined 6-7 Time, Fault & Out and we put in a lovely run, got to number 20 before the time ran out and looking at the results they were mainly grade 7s that got to 21.

A little bit disheatened as I was so rusty with Cas but it was nice to finish on a good note with her and Rum is coming on nicely.

AC Agility Unaf. Show

Rum had a lovely run in the jumping but I just moved away from the end of the weaves too soon and he came out of the last weave. Otherwise he went nicely and did the rest perfectly. In the helter skelter I didn’t call him enough and so right turn to him was the tunnel, I need a ‘right’ then a ‘here’ otherwise again he really powered on round the course. The agility was a tough course with a couple of big spreads, we ran a rather messy clear (there weren’t many!) – he was working ahead of me a lot so I struggled to get to a pull and we almost got a refusal, then again I struggled to get to another pull through and we were a bit messy. He ended up 3rd though so I was really pleased. He was running so nicely he really felt right, it was the first time he had done anything since the chiropractor, think it must have helped! All classes were combined 1-7.

Cas had a couple of poles down in the jumping as it was quite slippy first thing and it was just her slipping that caused them to fall, we had a messy bit anyway as I tried to handle her too much like Rum! In the helter skelter she had a lovely run which I handled from a distance and came 3rd. We won’t mention the agility – she missed her A-frame so I put her back over and it just got worse from then on!!

Agility Addicts

Rum is working so nicely I am dead chuffed with him, in the agility runs he just missed one jump which I couldn’t figure out how to handle – the rest was so nice and his contacts were stunning. In the Jump N Gamble he had a nice round, though he had a twizzle at one point as I didn’t collect and send him enough, but we went clear and so I attempted the Super Gamble (staying behind a line sending over a jump, into a tunnel and calling through the weaves) – he did it perfectly and ended up 4th. In his Novice Jumping runs the first time I didn’t call him early enough and the second time I was nagging him while he was over a jump and he dropped the pole – if he hadn’t he would have won it. He has run so lovely today.

Cas flew her see-saw in Senior Agility so the second round I made sure she got it and she had a messy clear but came 3rd! In the Jump N Gamble she just had a pole down so we didn’t get any further. Finally in Senior Jumping she just didn’t feel right and we were totally messing up – she was really clingy and not working away so am going to get her into the chiropractor as there was something not right.